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H.E. Dr. Tawfig Alrabiah, Minister of Commerce and Industry shakes hands with Omar Farid, who has been appointed as the President for Middle East and Africa for PepsiCo, (Image credit: Saudi US Trade Group)

PEPSICO has officially announced the appointment of Omar Farid as President, PepsiCo Middle East & Africa (MEA). He will report to Sanjeev Chadha, chief executive officer of PepsiCo’s Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) business according to Saudi Gazette.

Omar previously held the position of Senior Vice President and Business Unit General Manager of GCC Beverages at PepsiCo and has relocated to PepsiCo’s Dubai headquarters from Saudi Arabia to commence the role. He will be responsible for leading and driving PepsiCo’s business in the Middle East & Africa region.

Commenting on Omar Farid’s new role, Sanjeev Chadha, CEO – PepsiCo AMEA, said “Omar brings unparalleled breadth and depth of experience to his new role. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has held leadership positions in food and beverage businesses across the Middle East and Africa, and is one of PepsiCo’s strongest franchise experts across the globe. His track record of strong, sustained and profitable business growth is a testimony to his passionate leadership and deep business knowledge.”

Chadha further said “in addition, Omar is a strong champion of building diversity and an inclusive work environment, driving programs across the Gulf in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to develop local talent.”

Farid began his PepsiCo career in 1983 as a senior field representative in Egypt. Since then, he held a variety of leadership positions including in SIPCO (Pepsi’s bottling company for the western region in Saudi Arabia) General Manager, SSFL (Saudi Snacks Foods Limited) General Manager, and General Manager for PepsiCo East Mediterranean and North Africa. Through his career at PepsiCo, his responsibilities have taken him across the Middle East to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Yemen as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Farid said “the Middle East is one of the strongest performing regions globally for PepsiCo. Our success has been driven by a powerful combination of great brands, great people and great partners, and I look forward to building on PepsiCo’s longtime success in the Middle East.”

In his previous role as Senior Vice President and Business Unit General Manager (BUGM) of GCC Beverages, Farid took PepsiCo’s collaboration with its GCC bottlers to new heights, resulting in SIPCO and Al Jomaih being crowned AMEA’s Bottler of the Year in succession. Al Jomaih is also the reigning PepsiCo International Bottler of the Year. — SG